Refrigerator having a condiment door and compartment

ABSTRACT

A household refrigerator having three compartments: a freezer compartment, a refrigerator compartment, and a condiment compartment. Each compartment is accessed via its own door. In an illustrative embodiment, the refrigerator compartment is above the freezer compartment and the condiment compartment is adjacent the refrigerator compartment on the side of the refrigerator. The condiment compartment preferably includes movable shelves inside the condiment compartment as well as on the door to the condiment compartment. One or more electric fans are provided to circulate cold air from the refrigerator compartment into the condiment compartment. The fans are preferably controlled by a thermostat. The refrigerator is preferably designed so that the condiment compartment may be mounted on either the left or right side of the refrigerator compartment.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application claims benefits from U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 61/346,047, filed May 19, 2010, the contents of which are hereby incorporated herein by reference.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

This invention relates broadly to household refrigerators. More particularly, this invention relates to a refrigerator having a separate door and compartment for condiments.

2. State of the Art

Today household refrigerators come it three basic models: two side by side doors, one for the refrigerator and one for the freezer; two doors, one above the other, one for the refrigerator and one for the freezer; and two side by side refrigerator doors with one freezer door below. While there have been many advances in refrigerator design to help organize the contents of the refrigerator, there has been no success in helping organize condiments.

In many refrigerators, condiments account for 30% of the contents of the refrigerator. Moreover, condiments are scattered in amongst other items and are often hard to find without removing items. In addition, condiments may hide the presence of other items, thus allowing them to spoil before being consumed.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention provides a household refrigerator having three compartments: a freezer compartment, a refrigerator compartment, and a condiment compartment. Each compartment is accessed via its own door. In an illustrative embodiment, the refrigerator compartment is above the freezer compartment and the condiment compartment is adjacent the refrigerator compartment on the side of the refrigerator. The condiment compartment preferably includes movable shelves inside the condiment compartment as well as on the door to the condiment compartment. One or more electric fans are provided to circulate cold air from the refrigerator compartment into the condiment compartment. The fans are preferably controlled by a thermostat. The refrigerator is preferably designed so that the condiment compartment may be mounted on either the left or right side of the refrigerator compartment. The invention may be applied to various refrigerator designs and may be provided as an optional modular component that can be added at the factory, the appliance store or installed later

Additional objects and advantages of the invention will become apparent to those skilled in the art upon reference to the detailed description taken in conjunction with the provided figures.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a refrigerator according to the invention showing the condiment compartment on the left side of the refrigerator with its door opened;

FIG. 2 is a closer view of the interior of the condiment compartment showing the adjustable shelves, the electric fans and the thermostat;

FIGS. 3 a through 3 e are views of an electric fan assembly according to the invention;

FIG. 4 is a perspective view of a condiment compartment according to the invention, detached from the refrigerator and with its door closed;

FIG. 5 is a perspective view of the right side of a refrigerator according to the invention showing the location where the condiment compartment could be mounted;

FIG. 6A is a perspective is a perspective view of a second embodiment of the invention; and

FIG. 6B is a broken perspective view of the embodiment of FIG. 6A.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Referring to FIGS. 1-5 generally, there is illustrated a refrigeration unit 10 according to the invention having three doors 12, 14, 16. The door 12 opens to a refrigeration compartment and the door 14 opens to a freezer compartment. The door 16 opens to a condiment compartment 18. According to the preferred embodiment, each door has its own handle 12 a, 14 a, 16 a.

According to the illustrated embodiment, two openings 20, 22 are provided between the refrigerator compartment and the condiment compartment. The condiment compartment is provided with matching openings 21, 23 as seen best in FIG. 4. As illustrated, the door 16 and condiment compartment 18 are mounted on the left side of the refrigerator compartment but could be mounted on the right side as suggested in FIG. 5 via openings 20 a, 22 a which are closed with plates 20 b, 22 b when not used.

Each opening is provided with a fan unit 24, 26. The fan units are best illustrated in FIGS. 3 a-3 e. Each fan unit includes two fans 24 a, 24 b, 26 a, 26 b and an electrical connector 24 c, 26 c which mate with mating connectors in the openings 20, 22. According to the illustrated embodiment, each fan unit includes means 24 d, 26 d for attaching to the refrigerator compartment wall and means 24 e, 26 e for attaching to the condiment compartment. The fans are preferably controlled by a thermostat 28 in the condiment compartment 18 as shown in FIG. 2. According to one embodiment, one set of fans blows cold air from the refrigeration (cooling) compartment into the condiment compartment and the other set of fans re-circulates the air back into the cooling compartment.

As illustrated and seen best in FIGS. 1 and 2, the condiment compartment 18 and the door 16 to it are provided with a plurality of movable shelves 30 a-30 h and non-movable bottom shelves 30 i, 30 j.

FIGS. 6A and 6B illustrate a second embodiment of the invention where similar reference numerals (increased by 100) refer to similar parts. This embodiment refers to a refrigerator 110 which a cooling compartment having door 112 which is arranged side by side with the freezer compartment having door 114. The condiment compartment 118, having door 116 is mounted on the right side of the cooling compartment. In addition, in this embodiment, the condiment compartment is coextensive in length with the cooling compartment.

FIG. 6B shows the openings 120, 122 in the cooling compartment, the openings 121, 123 in the condiment compartment and the fan units 124, 126. This view also illustrates the potential modularity of the invention. With the condiment compartment and fans removed, the openings can be covered with removable covers (e.g. plates 20 b, 22 b shown in FIG. 5). The refrigeration unit 110 can thus be sold either with or without the condiment compartment. The condiment compartment can be attached at the factory, at the point of sale, or added later, if the customer later desires to add it.

There have been described and illustrated herein a refrigeration unit having a separate condiment compartment. While the invention has been illustrated in conjunction with a two door refrigeration unit having the freezer below the refrigerator, it will be appreciated that the invention can be used with any type of refrigerator. As mentioned above, the condiment compartment can be mounted on either the right side or the left side of the refrigerator. It will be understood that when mounted on the right side, it will be necessary to invert the shelves. It will also be understood that the number of shelves can be varied and that the stationary shelves can be omitted. It will further be appreciated that the condiment compartment need not be reserved solely for condiments. It could also be used to house frequently accessed items such as canned beverages. It will therefore be appreciated by those skilled in the art that modifications could be made to the provided invention without deviating from its spirit and scope as claimed. 

1. A refrigeration unit, comprising: a refrigeration compartment; a freezer compartment; and a condiment compartment, wherein each compartment has its own access door.
 2. The refrigeration unit according to claim 1, wherein: said condiment compartment is mounted adjacent to said refrigeration compartment.
 3. The refrigeration unit according to claim 2, further comprising: at least one electric fan mounted between said condiment compartment and said refrigeration compartment, said at least one electric fan being adapted to blow cold air from the refrigeration compartment into the condiment compartment.
 4. The refrigeration unit according to claim 3, wherein: said at least one electric fan is controlled by a thermostat,
 5. The refrigeration unit according to claim 3, wherein: said at least one electric fan comprises four electric fans.
 6. The refrigeration unit according to claim 5, wherein: said four electric fans comprise two double fan units.
 7. The refrigeration unit according to claim 6, wherein: one of said double fan units is mounted above the other of said double fan units, one of said double fan units blowing air from the refrigeration compartment into the condiment compartment and one of said double fan units blowing air from the condiment compartment into the refrigeration compartment.
 8. The refrigeration unit according to claim 7, wherein: each double fan unit is mounted in a side wall of the refrigeration compartment and includes means for attaching the condiment compartment.
 9. The refrigeration unit according to claim 8, wherein: said refrigeration compartment is provided with means for mounting said fan units and said condiment compartment on either the left or right side wall of the refrigeration compartment.
 10. The refrigeration unit according to claim 1, further comprising: a plurality of movable shelves mounted inside said condiment compartment.
 11. The refrigeration unit according to claim 10, further comprising: a plurality of movable shelves mounted inside the condiment compartment access door.
 12. The refrigeration unit according to claim 1, wherein: each access door has a handle.
 13. A refrigeration unit, comprising: a refrigeration compartment having a door; and a freezer compartment having a door; wherein said refrigeration compartment has a pair of side ports adapted to couple a removable condiment compartment to the refrigeration compartment, the condiment compartment having its own access door.
 14. A kit, comprising: a) a refrigeration unit, having i) a refrigeration compartment having a door and a pair of side ports; and ii) a freezer compartment having a door; and b) a condiment compartment having a door and a pair of side ports adapted to mate with the side ports in the refrigeration compartment; and c) a pair of fan units, each fan unit adapted to be mounted between a respective side port of the refrigeration compartment and the condiment compartment. 